The present disclosure relates to a sheet feeding device which conveys a sheet and an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding device.
An image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, is provided with a sheet feeding device which conveys a sheet from a sheet feeding cartridge. The sheet feeding device has a retard roller which prevents overlapped sheets from being conveyed (multiple feeding) and conveys the sheets one by one. The retard roller prevents the multiple feeding by applying a frictional force to the sheets other than an uppermost sheet.
Since the retard roller is configured to prevent the multiple feeding of the sheets by frictionally rubbing against the sheets, this roller is necessarily frictionally worn by the rubbing against the sheets. If such frictional wearing advances, since a sheet feeding failure, such as a multiple feeding, is easy to occur, it is necessary to replace or repair the retard roller periodically.
As a solution to the problem described above, there is a sheet feeding device provided with a holder member which holds the retard roller. The sheet feeding device is configured to attach or detach the holder member to or from a guiding part which guides a sheet fed from the sheet feeding cartridge. The guiding part has a depression in which the holder member is to be housed. On both side surfaces of the holder member, elastic connection pieces capable of engaging with the depression are formed. By elastically deforming the connection pieces, the holder member is attached to or detached from the depression. Also, the sheet feeding device is further provided with a charging member which is charged between the side surfaces of the depression and side surfaces of the holder member in order to prevent the connection pieces from being elastically deformed after the holder member has been attached to the depression.
However, in the sheet feeding device mentioned above, there is a need to deform the connection pieces by putting one's fingers in a small space between the side surfaces of the depression and the side surfaces of the holder member, and there has been cumbersomeness associated with attachment and detachment of the holder member. In addition, there is a need to carry out the work of attaching the charging member in the small space and thus further cumbersomeness is prone to arise.